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Lee Mack reveals why he isn't playing at Soccer Aid this year
Lee Mack reveals why he isn't playing at Soccer Aid this year
The Not Going Out star has been a mainstay at the charity event in recent years but is set to miss out this time
Mack is set for a non-playing role at Soccer Aid this year
Soccer Aid is back for 2026, but one of its biggest stars of recent years won't be taking to the pitch at Old Trafford on Sunday evening.
Comedian and TV presenter Lee Mack has been a constant source of entertainment at the huge charity match in recent years, representing both the England and the World XI teams and proving a favourite amongst fans, fellow celebrities and professional footballers. In 2022, he even proved the hero as he scored the winning spot-kick for the World XI team in the penalty shootout.
However, this year, the 56-year-old is set to miss out on playing alongside the likes of Carlos Tevez, Nemanja Vidic and Tony Bellew and has instead been lined up for an off-field role at the sold-out Theatre of Dreams.
Ahead of the event - which has raised more than £100 million since its launch in 2006 - Mack has revealed that he is injured, meaning he is unlikely to pull on his boots for this year's match.
Speaking to Gabby Logan and Mark Chapman on The Sports Agents podcast, the Not Going Out star said he was set to take a backseat for the event, suggesting that he could take up a punditry role instead.
'I should point out that due to injury, I may be more your role this year," he told the new Match of the Day hosts. "I may be a pundit.
'It's all TBC, he says diplomatically. So, I don't quite know when this is going out or what you've been told!
Quizzed on what his injury entails, Mack replied: 'Well, I'm 57 this year. I'm always injured.
"It's a default setting! You know, my injury is that I'm almost 57.'
Having previously represented England at the event, Mack moved over to the World XI in 2021, based on his Irish heritage, and admitted to Logan and Chapman that he welcomed the switch.
'I thought, I quite fancy the change," he said. "I thought I'll share out the badness. Not further, I'm giving all this badness to the same team every year."
That switch saw him 'sacked' by England coach Sven-Göran Eriksson, with the late manager - who passed away last year after being diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer - making him go and play for the World XI team as part of a skit for the charity event.
"Well, there's two sort of answers to that," he said as he was asked about the change on the podcast.
"There's sort of the showbiz answer, which is what we put out on screen, which is that Sven-Göran Eriksson sacked me, and I had to go and play for the other team.
'In reality, it was a documentary we made that was leading up to it, about me getting ready, and we thought it would be funny.'
"I will say about Sven, without any shadow of a doubt, one of the greatest England managers we ever had,' he said. 'Like, Sven-Göran Eriksson was telling me how to play football. It was like a dream come true!'
"What a lovely, lovely bloke. But not the most natural comedian you ever had. 'Take 74: No, Sven. If you could just say it this way, please!' But it was a thrill to meet him and just hang around with him.'
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While Mack is set to miss out on playing, the World XI boasts a stacked line-up of ex-professionals including Vidic, Tevez and Italy international Leonardo Bonucci, as well as celebrities including Martin Compston, Dermot Kennedy and Bryan Habana.
Meanwhile, the England team features the likes of Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes and Joe Hart playing alongside Louis Tomlinson, Bear Grylls and Sir Mo Farah.
